| May 2005, #6
Politics & Government: Elections | Federal Government | Congress | Constitution
Government Initiatives: Education | Health
Care | Social Security & Welfare | Tax
Reform
Politics & Government:
C1 - What Can We Learn from the 2004 U.S. Election about the Future of Politics in the United States?
Wallison, Peter J.
Published in the American Academy's Berlin Journal, May 18, 2005, #10
"Various factors suggest that either a realignment has occurred in American politics or that a period of sustained Republican hegemony--the functional equivalent of a realignment--is ahead." Wallison argues that the Republicans are "much more in tune than the Democrats with the basic attitudes of the American electorate." Peter J. Wallison is a resident fellow at AEI. Fulltext
C2 - What's the Matter with Liberals?
Frank, Thomas
The New York Review of Books, May 12, 2005, v52, #8, pp46-49
The author argues "that for more than 35 years, American politics has followed a populist pattern as predictable as a Punch and Judy show and as conducive to enlightened statesmanship as the cycles of a noisy washing machine." He says the 2004 presidential campaign provides a near-perfect demonstration of the persistent power of backlash. Thomas Frank is the editor of Baffler magazine. His essay is based on the afterword to the paperback edition of his most recent book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Fulltext
C3 - The 2005 Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, May 10, 2005.
The latest installment of the Pew Research Center's Political Typology finds significant cleavages within both major parties that go well beyond the familiar red-blue divide. The in-depth polling identifies challenges for both parties with their core constituencies and with voters in the middle of the electorate.[...] As part of the release of the 2005 Political Typology, the Pew Research Center has created an interactive website where users can find out where they fit in the Political Typology, and to see how the various typology groups feel about major issues of the day. The special website can be found at Pew Political Typology. This is the fourth such typology developed by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press since 1987. Many of the groups identified in the current surveys are similar to those in past typologies, reflecting the continuing importance of a number of key beliefs and values. These themes endure despite the consequential events of the past four years - especially the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq. Fulltext
C4 - Moral Issues and Voter Decision Making in the 2004 Presidential Election
Hillygus, D. Sunshine and Todd G. Shields.
PS, Political Science & Politics, April 2005, v38, #2, pp201-210
"[...] President George W. Bush became the first candidate to win a majority of the popular vote since his father in 1988. Hillygus and Shields examine voter decision making in the 2004 presidential race, evaluating the influence of the moral issues of gay marriage and abortion on individual vote choice relative to competing factors such as party identification, retrospective evaluations of the economy, and the Iraq war." D. Sunshine Hillygus is Assistant Professor at Harvard University. Todd G. Shield is affiliated with the University of Arkansas. Fulltext
C5 - Reclaiming Federalism
Barron, David J.
Dissent, Spring 2005, v52, #2, pp64-69
The author maintains that “progressive federalism would give states and local government much greater room to regulate the private market, check national and multinational business influence, provide the national government much more power to regulate nonmarket social relations, and bestow Congress the power to protect basic Fourteenth Amendment rights.” David J. Barron is a professor at Harvard Law School. He has written widely on issues concerning federalism and local power. Fulltext
C6 - Judicial Nominations
Congressional Digest, v84, #5, pp129-160
The Republican Senate majority, angered by the Democrats' filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees, may soon exercise their ability to re-write Senate rules in order to guarantee the judges an up-or-down vote, eliminating the filibuster option on those issues. The Congressional Digest offers a pro and con argumentation on major aspects of this debate. Order
Article
C7 - Judgment Day
Victor, Kirk
National Journal, May 7, 2005, v37, #19, pp1372-1378
"For the past several months, as Senate Democratic leaders have prepared to defend their use of filibusters to block a small number of President Bush's judicial nominees, they have never lost sight of the lessons from one of Capitol Hill's last great examples of brinkmanship..." Republicans and Democrats are nearing a much-anticipated Senate showdown over filibuster against judicial Nominees. But neither side can be certain how it's action will ultimately be judged in the court of public opinion. Kirk Victor is a staff writer at National Journal. Fulltext
constitution
C8 - The Right To Die: Constitutional and Statutory Analysis
Kenneth R. Thomas, American Law Division
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, updated March 22, 2005, 51p
“Recently, there have been a series of court and legislative actions regarding the proposed withdrawal of nutrition and hydration from a Florida patient, Theresa Schiavo, a patient who has suffered severe brain damage. This case has brought new attention to the issue of "right to die." Although the popular term "right to die" has been used as a label to describe the current political debate over end-of-life decisions, the underlying issues include a variety of legal concepts, including, suicide, passive euthanasia (allowing a person to die by refusal or withdrawal of medical intervention), assisted suicide (providing a person the means of committing suicide), active euthanasia (killing another), and palliative care (providing comfort care which accelerates the death process).“ Kenneth R. Thomas, American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service.
Order Article
C9 - Right to Die
Jost, Kenneth
The CQ Researcher Online, May 13, 2005, # 15, pp421-444
The Terry Schiavo case touched off a "nationwide debate that continues in
political, legal and medical circles over when, if ever, to withdraw life
support from patients unable to express their own wishes. Many advocates and
experts used the case to emphasize the need to write a 'living will' and
designate a 'health-care proxy' to help make such decisions, but only a small
minority of Americans have taken either step. Some in Congress want to make it
harder to remove life support. But others say that no legal changes are needed
and the issue is, in any event, for the states, not the federal government.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear the Bush administration's
attempt to effectively thwart an Oregon law legalizing physician-assisted
suicide — a law twice approved by the state's voters but strongly opposed by
right-to-life and disability-rights groups." Order
Article
Government Initiatives:
C10 - The Politics of Literacy
Davenport, David; Jones, Jeffery M.
Policy Review, Apr/May2005, #130, pp45, 13p
"After decades of debate inside the educational community, literacy policy has recently moved to the larger stage of national politics. Prior to 1997 no federal bill had specifically addressed child literacy as an issue. But in the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush regularly touted his record on literacy, and he and his wife Laura, a former librarian, speak of reading as "the new civil right." This article discusses issues concerning the federalization of literacy policy in the U.S. as April 2005, points to conflicts underlying policy debates on literacy; and offfers views of neoliberal and neoconservative leaders on the issue. Davenport is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and distinguished professor of public policy at Pepperdine University. Jeffrey M. Jones is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. Fulltext
C11 - Medicare Drug Cost Estimates: What Congress Knows Now
Hunter, Derek
Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #1849, April 28, 2005
"The financial burdens of the expanded Medicare drug entitlement impose an enormous burden on current and future taxpayers. ... Congress can act now to revisit the Medicare law by targeting drug subsidies to low-income seniors who are without coverage and therefore lessening the deepening fiscal crisis in Medicare. This can be done this year, either by postponing the drug entitlement before it goes into effect on January 1, 2006, or by repealing it." Derek Hunter is a Research Assistant in the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Fulltext
C12 - Social Security's Fixable Financing Issues
Bivens, L. Josh
Economic Policy Institute Issue Brief #207, April 26, 2005
"In 1982, an imminent shortfall in Social Security - the projected inability of Social Security's finances to meet the next year's benefit payments - prompted action by Congress. Adopting several of the recommendations of the bipartisan Greenspan Commission, Congress instituted a series of changes to the Social Security program that increased tax revenues dedicated to the program, and decreased the benefits Social Security pays out. These changes led to a balance (actually, a very small surplus) in the 75-year planning horizon that is traditionally used to grade the system's solvency. Since then, another actuarial deficit has emerged, with revenues projected to fall short of benefits in 2041. Supporters of a major overhaul of Social Security have portrayed the emergence of this financing gap as driven predominantly by demographic trends. This is incorrect." Josh Bivens joined the Economic Policy Institute in 2002. Fulltext
Tax Reform
C13 - Beware the Value-Added Tax
Mitchell, Daniel J.
Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #1852, May 16, 2005
” America is one of the few nations without a value-added tax (VAT), but there is growing pressure to impose the levy… Some like the VAT because it offers a new way to finance bigger government. Others like the VAT because—at least compared to the income tax—it does not impose as much damage on the economy. Some want to use the revenues from a VAT to facilitate tax reform and/or Social Security reform. There are even some people who believe that a VAT will somehow reduce the trade deficit. However, many people dislike the VAT, often for some of the reasons listed above.” Daniel J. Mitchell is a senior research f ellow in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. Fulltext
C14 - Value-Added Tax as a New Revenue Source
Bickley, James M.
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, updated April 29, 2005, 8p
“President George W. Bush has stated that tax reform will be one of his top prioritiesin the 109th Congress. Some form of a value-added tax (VAT) has been frequently discussed as a replacement to the U.S. income tax system. In addition, some Members of Congress have expressed interest in the feasibility of using a value-added tax to finance health care reform, or to fund Americas war effort.” James M. Bickley, Government and Finance Division of the Congressional Research Service. Order Article
C15 - A Value-Added Tax Contrasted with a National Sales Tax
Bickley, James M.
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, updated April 29, 2005, 8p
”President George W. Bush has stated that tax reform is one of his top priorities inthe 109th Congress. Both a value-added tax (VAT) and a national sales tax (NST) have been proposed as replacement taxes for our current income tax system. In addition, there is congressional interest in using a consumption tax to finance national health care or reduce the budgetary deficit.” James M. Bickley, Government and Finance Division of the Congressional Research Service. Order Article
C16 - Flat Tax Proposals And Fundamental Tax Reform: An Overview
Bickley, James M.
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, updated April 29, 2005, 12p
“Most of the recent tax reform proposals would change the tax base from income toconsumption. One or more of four major types of broad-based consumption taxes are included in these congressional tax proposals: The value-added tax, the retail sales tax, the consumed-income tax, and the flat tax based on a proposal formulated by Robert I. Hall and Alvin Rabushka, two scholars at the Hoover Institution.” James M. Bickley, Government and Finance Division of the Congressional Research Service. Order Article
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